AMERICAN JEZEBEL: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson; the Woman who Defied the Puritans
This biography by Eve LaPlante, a direct descendant of Hutchinson, was published in 2004. It is based on the historical records of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts and the first Church of Boston from the two trials of Hutchinson resulting in her banishment and excommunication from the Bay Colony and the church. There is also a description of the trial of Anne's father, Francis Marbury, Cambridge, England in which there are remarkable similarities to her trials nearly 60 years later in America. The Reverend John Cotton greatly influenced her both in England and America; that is the Covenant of Grace versus the Covenant of Works as necessary for salvation, which alienated her from the Church of England clergy in America and Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop, alarmed at her growing popularity in spiritual matters, orchestrated and presided over her two trials. (Governor Winthrop called her the "American Jezebel" in his writings). Besides her family, Anne had some few supporters such as Mary and William Dyer who left the Colony with her. The descriptions of her early life in England and migration to America in 1634 with her husband and children, banishment to Rhode Island, then settling in New Netherlands and murder by Indians in 1643 completes a gripping tale of a brave woman driven by deep religious convictions.
This book is available in local libraries, as well as several juvenile books. There is also a juvenile biography of Anne Hutchinson in our own library.
Jeanne Bird